Thursday, August 28, 2008

TGIF early, but close enough. What a week! Everyone here is doing well. Christie and the boys visited with Zander this afternoon and I was able to see him around lunch. He is doing well and for the most part just sleeping and eating in anticipation of Tuesday's surgery. Zander is doing his impersonation of the Vlasic pickle guy in the picture. he has been working on this for a few days.

We do not know at this point what time the surgery will be, but we think we should know more on Friday. Dallas, Alisha and all the gang in Pod 4 are taking good care of Zander (and everyone else) and today seemed to be a relatively quiet day compared to the last couple.

Grandpa Bill is flying in from Florida tomorrow and I know he is excited to see everyone and the Zman. At this point nothing has changed for Zander. Hopefully we will know more tomorrow.

Thanks as always for the comments and prayers. Please keep Zander and Ethan in your prayers. For my old buddy in East Ridge, keep your outlook an uplook and all will work out. You are in our prayers and it is not to late to switch to the right political party.

I will write again tomorrow. Sweet dreams to all. May god Bless and keep each of you. Houston, Jackson, Zander and Ethan....keep moving along.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Good evening all. I hope everyone survived Wednesday. The boys have just gone to bed and I am sure that the Zman is also catching zzzzzzs.

Dr. Kelley confirmed today that Zander will go to surgery on Tuesday. Zander's food intake has been reduced to 55 ml every 3 hours; however, his liquids through the central line have been increased to keep the caloric intake the same. They are trying to minimize Zander's spit-ups/throw-ups. He had a few the past few days.

Christie, Jackson and I visited him earlier today. Grandma Pat and Grandma Judi also came to see him today. The Pod was shut down for most of the morning due to another baby not doing so well. Zander was doing fine this afternoon and he looked comfortable as he had just eaten. Typical male. He smiled during his sleep so it appears that he was having a good dream (he must be excited about college football starting this weekend).

Christie and the boys had a good day at school. The much needed rain has finally stopped...although we still need more. Christie is grading papers and I am quickly fading. All is well on the mountain tonight.

Ethan and his family are likely leaving the hospital in the next day or two. They are taking Ethan home and he will be on liquids. They are scheduled to meet or talk with a transplant specialist from Cincinnati Children's early next week. Heidi, I have shared with them our connection to Cincy, so do not be surprised if I pass along your number should they need help getting around up there. They are a sweet young couple and Christie and I wish them them best. I am sure we will keep in touch with them as Ethan and Zander have become "kings of Pod 4", not to mention fast friends.

I will write again tomorrow. Christie and I hope everyone has a restful night and a great Thursday. Thanks, as always for the prayers, thought and encouraging words.

Good night Huey, Jackson, Zander and Ethan. All of you are loved and our prayers and thoughts and the prayers and thoughts of many are with each of you. May each of your dreams be big. Rest easy Ethan and Zman...keep moving along. We love all of you.

Good morning all. Sorry for the delay in posting. The internet is down at home so I cannot post any pictures with this post this morning, but I will post later today and hopefully have pictures.
Zander had his upper GI yesterday and it confirmed the significant reflux that he is having. Thus, the surgery (fundoplication) will proceed. We have not talked with Dr. Kelley, but we still think he is looking at next Tuesday.
The boys are well and Zander was resting well yesterday when we saw him. I will post more later and I hope that everyone has a good Wednesday. Gotta Run! Stay dry!
Clancy

Monday, August 25, 2008

Hello all! The Zman is throwing signs out to all his homies and homegirls from high atop Pod 4 here in Chatt-town. For those of you that are not familiar with gang terminology what I just said was that due to Zander's hand configuration in the above picture, he says hello and good evening to all the gentlemen and ladies from his current residence in Pod 4 of the NICU at Erlanger Hospital here in Chattanooga.

Zander is eating well and resting well. Dr. Kelley came by to see him this afternoon and thank goodness he did not bring his red Sharpie with him. Dr. Kelley is planning on running a GI test from the stomach up into the esophagus later in the week to see how the reflux is doing. He is also tentatively scheduling the fundoplication surgery for next Tuesday (the day after Labor Day) depending upon scheduling in surgery.

Zander currently weights about 9 pounds 6 ounces and he seems to be resting well. Dallas, his primary nurse says that she has seen less spit-up from him over the past 3 days. Chrisite was able to spend a few hours with him this afternoon and I know she was glad to hold him and spend time with him alone. She is still trying to convince Zander that he loves her more, but if I have to lose that fight, I will gladly do so...for now. (Zander told me earlier in the day that he was a Daddy's boy).

Houston received his T-CAP scores today and he did great! He is proficient or highly proficient in all areas including English. Whew! Thank God! His English teacher last year was very difficult and did not treat him like the rest of the students. (Christie was his English teacher). Jackson is bee-bopping around here not wanting to take a bath because he is too tired to do so, but all in all it has been a good Monday.

Thanks as always for the comments, prayers and encouraging words. It appears that the Sale Creek, Tennessee participants are having a problem with only hitting the submit button once, but hey, we still love them and appreciate their prayers and support. Please keep Ethan and his parents in your prayers.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Good afternoon all. I hope everyone is having a nice Sunday afternoon. Here in Chatta-Vegas it is overcast and the temperature outside makes it feel more like fall than summer (not supposed to capitlize per Chrisite) as it is only mid 70s.

Sorry I have not posted until now, but Christie and I (with the help of Grandma Pat, Houston and Jackson) have done all of the work around and in the house that we have not been able to get to since the Zman arrived. The house is now clean as a whistle and the grass (what's left of it) is trimmed. The weeds have also been pulled and Houston was a great help in this regard. We also pressure washed parts of the house and Houston and Jackson were a big help when they were squirting me and each other.

Jackson had his first soccer game of the season. He is on the Bullsharks and they won their first game. Jackson played both offense and defense and did well, but he has to work on playing the game instead of playing to the crowd.

Zander is doing well. He is waving hello to everyone in the picture above. Christie spent a few hours with him last night. Grandma Judi came to see him yesterday morning, but we have not heard from her, so I think she may be working. Zander's feeds have been increased to 60ml every 3 hours. The increase is not only for his caloric intake but is also to stretch his stomach as much as possible to give Dr. Kelley as much as possible to work with in the upcoming surgery.

I spent a few hours this afternoon with Zander. As the pictures above show, he is resting well and I held him while he ate (through the Gtube).

At this point, we are preparing for another hectic week. We continue to pray for Zander, but we also pray that God will help all of us through this. The grind of it all can be unbearable, but we try to count it all joy. We do worry about everything, but we know that God is in control of it all. Some days are better than others, but each new day brings new grace. Please continue to pray for Ethan as today he is 100 days old.

I will write again tomorrow...if not sooner. Thanks to all for your continued prayers and comments. Grandpa Bill will be here later in the week to visit and I hope than Zander is on his best behavior.